High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1414: Chapter 161: Listening to the Tide (Part 4)

”Less nonsense.”

Rat Immortal cut off the black-robed wizard’s words: ”Watch carefully, don’t let any dirty things mix into your laboratory.”

As it spoke, its long tail suddenly stretched out, reaching beyond the wooden carrier and, from the crowd of rats, it coiled around a rat wearing a green vest—the rat waved its paws in terror, its face showing human-like expressions.

”Spare me!” It only managed to cry out these two words.

”Sorry, private matters, no outside visitors,” said Rat Immortal emotionlessly to the rat as its tail suddenly tightened.

There was a snap.

The neck of the rat in the green vest was then twisted to one side.

The tail loosened and with a flop, the rat fell onto the soft soil of the forest, quickly sinking into the ground and vanishing, like a wave disappearing into the ocean. The other vested rats seemed not to notice, still lining up in neat rows, orderly surging towards that small door.

The black-robed wizard took a deep sigh.

”What’s the point,” he muttered, his gaze sweeping from that small door to the riverside, his voice sounding hoarse and exhausted: ”...how many more rats. My eyes are starting to burn.”

”If they’re burning, just wash them,” Rat Immortal indifferently replied, its gaze not leaving its pack for a moment: ”You surely wouldn’t want a real ’rat’ to follow these kids and sneak into your construction site.”

The wizard in the hood said nothing but instead, with the smoothness of flowing water, took out a wide-mouth bottle about an inch tall from his pocket and removed the cork.

Immediately, a milky mist rose from the bottle.

Then he reached into his hood, rummaging around, and after a moment, he threw the eyeballs he had pried out into the bottle. The distinctly black and white eyeballs with veins of blood floated and sank in the translucent eyeball cleaning liquid, like two exotic little fish frolicking.

The wizard then took out a glass rod, stirring aimlessly in the bottle.

The density of the milky mist intensified slightly.

Rat Immortal’s gaze still hadn’t left its pack, just its ears flicked slightly, ”If you were willing to sell your eyeball cleaning formula to Fizzell Magic Pharmacy Company, you wouldn’t have to worry about the costs of alchemy materials... for many old-school wizards, the name of Doctor Du Zemu still carries weight.”

”Hey, what carries weight is Doctor Du Zemu of First University, not some non-existent Du Zemu.”

The black-robed wizard, or rather Doctor Du Zemu, chuckled twice: ”...As for the eyeball cleaning liquid, I don’t mind selling it. But there are not many wizards who can and would be willing to afford this method of eyeball cleaning. Those magic potion companies never do unprofitable business.”

”No one is willing to do unprofitable business,” Rat Immortal replied with implied meaning.

The forest clearing fell silent for a moment.

”So, have you invested enough money this time?” Doctor Du Zemu asked in a soft voice: ”Only with enough capital can you have enough power to resist risks... The bigger, the unbreakable. When your capital is large enough, the forces that don’t want you to fail also become very strong. Then your chances of success will be much higher.”

Rat Immortal did not immediately answer the doctor’s question.

It twitched the whiskers at the corner of its mouth: ”Since you understand this principle, why did you fail initially?”

”I realized this truth after the failure.”

”Since you have had the experience of failure, you should naturally understand the principle of ’forewarned is forearmed, unpreparedness spells disaster,’” Rat Immortal paused, his gaze settling on the edge of the river channel.

The rat tide was nearing its end.

Now, the ones emerging from the river were mostly small mice wearing yellow vests, and their numbers were growing sparser. He patted the armrest of the wooden carriage, causing it to rise slightly for a broader view:

”...From last year’s winter hunt to the black tide at the beginning of the year, we have conducted enough simulation exercises. We tested the strength of the School Guardian Array and confirmed the capabilities of our allies.”

”We have enough power to open two battlefields, that’s our capital.”

”When Giant Zero Three descends upon Black Prison and struggles with those guys for the Xuanhuang Fruit, we will also initiate a new round of black tide. An unprecedented black tide. This time, the school will not get through it as easily as it did a few months ago. Our newly recruited distant hill giants and giant dragons...”

”Giants?” Doctor Duzem couldn’t help interrupting: ”Those rowdy guys, once they start moving, they’ll make a lot of noise, right? Can they avoid the school’s surveillance?”

”This time, we need not worry about being discovered. We just need to worry that the school won’t discover it.” Rat Immortal watched the last few mice wearing yellow vests scurry through the archway and sighed softly: ”...Only if the school realizes the instability of Silent Forest will they withdraw hands from Black Prison. That’s our goal.”

”You are trying to pull chestnuts out of the fire for the demons.”

”No, this is a win-win situation.” Rat Immortal’s whiskers trembled slightly, and the wrinkles on his face deepened: ”Just like our cooperation with you... you’ve had the chance to advance, we’ve gained Giant Zero Three... we relieve their pressure in Black Prison, and they help distract the school’s gaze for us.”

As he spoke, Rat Immortal’s gaze passed the edge of Silent Forest, over the end of Silent River, and settled on the vast sea beyond. The distant sea was shrouded in mist, the surge of waves obscured, but the sound of the waves reached far with the wind.

Very far.

...

...

Whish, whish, whish.

The tide surged outside the narrow cabin, incessant day and night, tumbling endlessly.

The fierce wind blew by.

A gap between two clouds allowed a ray of sunlight to spill onto the sea surface, landing on the Mist Ship, then passing through the narrow window to fall upon the female demon sitting by it.

Nikita stuck out her tongue, licking the touch of sunlight.

Warm, just like the taste in her memory.

This ship rarely saw the sun.

Especially when sailing, it was always enshrouded in endless fog, just as its name implied. From last summer to this year’s, almost three hundred days, she spent most of her time in this gloomy cabin, preparing food for the few crew members and the captain.

”Biting your finger when hungry doesn’t always work,” she whispered to another part of herself: ”The ship doesn’t have that much food, to eat half and throw half away...”

The kitchen was eerily quiet, not a sound to be heard.

Yet the female demon turned her ear, listening intently for a long while before speaking in a comforting tone: ”Alright, alright, I know the food at school is plentiful and fresh... but we can’t go back on our own... The captain said he would take us home this month. Zhou, do you miss Mommy?”